Using Scripture to Denigrate Mary is to use God’s Name in Vain

David Martin | The Daily Knight

Virgin Madonna and Child (1888, William-Adolphe Bouguereau)

Many today are under the impression that using God’s name in vain simply means using His name with cursing, but it extends to mean the use of His name or His Scriptures to denigrate His saints or His Mother Mary.

We use this little analogy to point out the extent of this offense. Imagine a young man who after being asked by his mother to clean his room smarts off and says, “I don’t have to listen to you, but I’ll deal directly with Dad when he gets home.” Most people would agree that this would be quite an offense, yet that’s exactly what “Christians” do when they say, “I don’t need to deal with Mary or heed her, but I’ll go directly to Christ.”

Naturally, their “direct” relation with Christ is an illusion. They claim they have Jesus as their “Personal Savior,” when in fact their idea of the Savior is very dry, abstract, and impersonal. They don’t want to see His pictures, they don’t want to see His face, they don’t want to hear His voice, they don’t want to speak to Him, they refuse to hear His prophets, they don’t want to obey His Commandments – they don’t want anything to do with Him! They just want to know they are “saved,” but who will save them if they don’t obey the Savior?

Christ said, “Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt: 7:21) God wills that we honor Mary and heed her voice at Fatima and other holy places of visitation, but separated brethren argue that their salvation comes solely through the Bible which defends their position. What Jesus told the Jews applies: “Search the scriptures, for you think in them to have life everlasting; and the same are they that give testimony of me.” (John 5:39)

Illogical

What defies logic is how some deny Mary's intercessory role when she was used by the Almighty to bring the Messiah into the world. Her purpose in Bible history is to bring Christ to man, beginning with the Incarnation, and continuing to this very day. The frequent citing of 1 Timothy 2:5 to try to disprove Mary's intermediary role is futile. In vain do they quote: “For there is one God, and one mediator of God and men, the man Jesus Christ: Who gave himself a redemption for all.” (1 Timothy 2:5,6)

This verse refers specifically to Christ's redemptive role on the cross, which was needed to open the lines between Heaven and earth, since none but the Son of God Himself could have accomplished this. But we still need the intercessory role of teachers and preachers to bring Christ to man, since faith "cometh by hearing." (Romans 10:17) “And how shall they hear, without a preacher?" (10:14) The grace and truth of Christ is dispensed by those that are sent by Christ, namely, the preachers of the Faith. St. Paul referred to himself and the Apostles as Christ's "ambassadors" in their role to reconcile God to man. “For Christ therefore, we are ambassadors, God as it were exhorting by us. For Christ, we beseech you, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5: 20)

Mediatrix of all Grace

If it is proper to refer to the Apostles as mediators for Christ, how much more proper is it to refer to Mary this way? Without Mary the Apostles wouldn’t have had a Messiah to preach. For while it was Christ who redeemed the world by His Sacrifice, it was Mary who channeled Christ into the world and who continues to channel his grace to us. She is the Mediatrix of all Grace who dispenses the blessings of Her Son to mankind.

Her intercessory role is alluded to in the Old Testament:

“Now all good things came to me together with her, and innumerable riches through her hands. And I rejoiced in all these: for this wisdom went before me, and I knew not that she was the mother of them all.” (Wisdom 7: 11,12)

Mary Was Ever Virgin 

Separated brethren argue that Mary was not ever Virgin but had other children, thereby providing Christ with brothers and sisters whom the Protestants understand to be the Apostles. In Matthew 12: 47-50, Christ does refer to the Apostles as His “brethren” but He obviously was speaking in figurative terms, since His Mother had only one Son. The Bible points out that the Apostles each had their own parents. For example, John and James, the two sons of thunder were the sons of Zebedee and his wife Mary Salome, which means they were not the sons of Joseph's wife, Mary. In other words, Jesus had no brothers and sisters from Mary. "Brethren" is simply used to indicate associates or acquaintances, not blood brothers. 

Note too, that in the old Hebrew usage, the word "till" or "until" was used to denote what was done without reference to a future time. For instance, God the Father said to the Son, “Sit on my right hand till I make thy enemies thy footstool.” (Matthew 22: 44) That is, sit on my right hand forever. Shall Christ no longer sit at his right hand once his enemies are subdued? Or in Isaias 46:4, God tells Jacob, “I am till you grow old.” That is, I am forever. In Genesis 8:6,7, it says that “Noe sent forth a raven, which went forth, and did not return till the waters were dried up on the earth.” That is, it never returned. 

Likewise, Matthew 1:25 says that Joseph “knew Mary not till she brought forth her firstborn son.” That is, he never knew her carnally, before or after Jesus' birth. The point of the verse is to show the miraculous nature of Christ's birth in how it occurred without the aid of man. Also, the word "firstborn" in Hebrew was used to indicate "only begotten." That is, the first and only.

Mary Not an Ordinary Woman

Mary indeed was no ordinary woman. St. Elizabeth was inspired by the Holy Ghost to perceive Mary's true significance when she went to visit her. The Gospel relates:

“Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she cried out with a loud voice, saying: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk. 1:41-43)

To think that under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the elderly and saintly Elizabeth stooped down to the youthful Mary and said, ‘Who am I that the mother of God should come to me!’ Her regard for Mary set the stage as to how all generations should regard her. Elizabeth reverenced Mary, saying, “Blessed art thou among women,” which is an example for all people to follow. If she referred to the Blessed Virgin as the Mother of her Lord and God, why wouldn’t any true Christian do the same?

Even the great Archangel Gabriel, speaking on behalf of the heavenly court, praised Mary when he announced to her that she was to be the Mother of God, saying, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” (Luke 1: 28) If a high angel of heaven Hailed Mary because she was to be the Mother of God, shouldn't we sinners Hail Mary for having been the Mother of God? Or do separated brethren find fault with the Archangel for having honored her so?

Angels are given to men by God to be their guides, so shouldn’t we follow the angel’s lead by Hailing Mary?